


I Don't Know Why Flowers Grow in Winter Time

by orphan_account



Category: British Actor RPF, Doctor Who RPF
Genre: AU, F/M, World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 21:25:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt is sent away do Germany as part of British Intelligence, leaving Alex and their two children behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don't Know Why Flowers Grow in Winter Time

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic, I'm basing the idea around the fact that sometimes civilians were recruited as part of British Intelligence through underground operations. Many of these soldiers would use false medical records to provide reason for not joining the armed forces as part of British conscription.

> **September 28th 1940**  
>  _The Battle of Britain is well underway. Rationing has hit the British hard and many are struggling to provide for their families. The German bombing raids of Southern London earlier in the month signalled the official beginning of the Blitz. Troops are being reconscripted to fight around all corners of Europe. The Second World War has well and truly begun._
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

Alex’s bruised knees pressed against the wooden floor, loose strands of knotted hair clinging to her forehead. She looked up, eyeing the ajar door before pushing herself onto her bare feet, using the table beside her to steady her posture. Her trembling fingers beat against it, the hollow drumbeats amplified as the shadow came closer.

“Matt.” She breathed a sigh of relief. His head was dripping wet and the hollow black lines under his eyes seemed to have edged even further into his skin with the dramatic turn of weather. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, dusting down her apron, “I didn’t expect you back so early.”

He slid off his coat and hung it on the back of the front door. “There wasn’t much left,” he said, his face grim and tinged with a tone of a boredom that suggested they’d faced the same situation time and time again. He placed a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs on the table. “They haven’t had anything in for a few days now. George says the U-Boats are sending every bit of food Britain has straight down into the Atlantic. He told me to come back and try again tomorrow morning.”

Alex shook her head. “We can’t keep doing this. We don’t even have any milk to drink, never mind butter or meat. And the kids... They’re getting awful tired of eating the same thing day after day. Poor Molly’s on edge with all of the noise in the middle of the night, especially now that they’re getting closer.” She paused, her eyes focused on the kitchen tiles and her thoughts deep in reality. “You don’t think they’ll reach _us_ , do you?”

Matt took a gulp of stale air. He hesitated. “Just make sure you’re ready. Prepare for the worst and treat anything better as a bonus. You know what they’re like. There’s no such thing as mercy where the Nazis are involved.” He leant over the kitchen table and cupped her face with his hands. “Please don’t worry. Everything’s going to be alright. It’ll be over in a few months.”

“They said the last one would be over by Christmas and it lasted four years.”

Matt smiled. “We’ll just have to hope and pray. Everyday.” He kissed her on the cheek and tipped himself back onto his heels.

“Your aunt called over,” Alex explained, “she offered to take James and Molly out for the day, down to the park and then to the cinema. I told her I’d pay – that we were on rations and she had her own children to feed – but she wouldn’t have any of it. They should be back in a couple of hours.”

“Good,” he replied. “I have a few things I need to discuss with you.”

Alex frowned until the skin around her nose creased and her eyes narrowed. She put down a half-washed dish and turned to face him. “Since when did we discuss things?” she laughed, “I always got the impression you thought you were the decision maker in this house.”

Matt smiled and nodded. “I’m afraid I have an issue on my mind that may take more than my own thoughts to decide upon.”

Alex scoffed. “Stop being so serious,” she said. “Yes, the whole city’s been bombed out, but that doesn’t mean you’re sense of humour has to go with it.” She sat down on the chair opposite and straightened the collar of his shirt. “What’s so important?” she asked.

“You have to promise you won’t get angry.”

“I promise,” she whispered, pursing her lips as she smiled.

“I have a friend,” Matt explained, folding his fingers in between one another and forming a fist upon the table.

Alex nodded, encouraging his explanation with her understanding.

“I agreed to do this friend a favour. Only this isn’t something easy, or indeed safe.” He paused. “He promised me money to spy in Germany. That, and no forced conscription into the armed forces.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “And you _agreed_?” she asked, standing up from her chair and pressing her palms flat against the table. “You agreed to put our whole family in danger?” There were tears now: hot tears that left a pathway of burnt red skin down her cheeks. Tears of anger, hatred and betrayal. “What happened to family, Matt?” she asked.

“It’s better than the army, isn’t it?” There was a desperation in his voice. He’d never meant to bring his wife to tears.

“You know what they’ll do, don’t you? If any of them find out you’re staying in Germany, they’ll call you a Nazi sympathiser. They’ll _despise_ you. Because civilians don’t care whether you’re helping the government or not. They care whether you’re fighting for their country. And by fighting, they mean blasting machine guns at every German you see, not hanging around on street corners listening to conversations you don’t understand. Do you speak a word of German?”

He nodded his head slowly, a movement shaped with embarrassment and regret. “I started learning as soon as they knew there’d be a war. Some people in this town are more skilled that you'd imagine.”

“So this is how the government recruit their spies? Through underground operations?” Her voice lost all agression. Instead, each sound echoed hopelessness.

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, staying silent. He could hear every slow breath escaping from her mouth. He could feel her shaking hands against his neck. “It’ll be over soon,” Matt cooed. “Before you even know it. I’ll be back and everything will be the same again.”

“You don’t know that,” Alex murmured.

“No,” he agreed, “I don’t.” He pushed her away gently and took a step back, looking directly into her eyes. “But I do know one thing. I’ll do anything to make sure I see you again. Do you trust me?”

Alex looked away. She watched the snow fall against the windowpane and heard the soft laughter of children outside. “With all of my heart.”


End file.
